(GENEVA) - The European Union will lead calls for the appointment of a UN human rights investigator to Belarus in the wake of a report condemning serious violations there. <\/p>\n
The UN Human Rights Council will discuss on Wednesday a report by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) which says the situation there has \"significantly deteriorated\" since the 2010 presidential election when a crackdown on protesters and opposition saw hundreds detained. <\/p>\n
The EU, supported by the United States, will on Thursday lodge a resolution requesting the assignment of a special rapporteur. <\/p>\n
The council's 47 members are then expected to vote on the issue at the end of its current sitting, on either July 5 or 6. <\/p>\n
The UN rights body previously appointed a special rapporteur in 2004 but the mandate was discontinued in 2007 at the request of the government. <\/p>\n
In June last year the council adopted a resolution condemning rights violations before and after the presidential election. <\/p>\n
US ambassador to the council Eileen Donahoe said there was a need to step up action against the government of Alexander Lukashenko amid its continued lack of cooperation with the OHCHR and \"the further degradation\" of the rights situation. <\/p>\n
\"The United States believes the next step should be the creation of a Special Rapporteur to continue to investigate and put a spotlight on the situation in Belarus,\" the ambassador told reporters in Geneva last week. <\/p>\n
In its latest report covering December 2010 to March this year, the OHCHR highlighted allegations of the torture of detainees and pressure on defence lawyers. <\/p>\n
\"Since the election, the human rights situation has further deteriorated, particularly the rights to freedoms of association, assembly and expression, and the right to a fair trial,\" it said. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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\nEU wants UN rights probe in Belarus<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"